ABSTRACT This article examines Thamizh Padam (‘Tamil Film’, dir. C. S. Amudhan), a 2010 spoof of the Tamil cinema of south India. While Thamizh Padam mocked near every aspect of mainstream Tamil cinema, its main target was the industry’s ‘mass heroes’, those larger-than-life stars whose image blurs onscreen and offscreen. While recalling Bazin’s discussion of the ontological identity of the photographic film image and its object, the auratic presence of the mass hero’s image affords a populist political potency that runs counter to Bazin’s liberal humanism and realist aesthetics. Drawing on analysis of Thamizh Padam and interviews with its makers, I show how Thamizh Padam attempted to undermine the ontology of the mass-hero’s image, its mode of production, and political charge. In its place, Thamizh Padam advocated for a narrative representationalism guided by the director and his script/story. The article concludes by rethiking Bazin’s discussion of the ontology of the film image, suggesting that it can be productively reframed by attention to the ontological politics of and for images.

中文翻译：

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泰米尔语电影中欺骗图像的本体论政治

摘要本文介绍了2010年印度南部泰米尔电影的恶作剧Thamizh Padam（“泰米尔电影”，导演CS Amudhan）。塔米兹·帕丹（Thamizh Padam）嘲笑泰米尔语主流电影的各个方面，但它的主要目标是电影界的“大众英雄”，即那些生命力过大的明星，其画面在屏幕上和屏幕外模糊。在回顾巴赞关于摄影胶片图像及其对象的本体论身份的讨论时，群众英雄图像的震撼人心的存在提供了民粹主义政治力量，与巴赞的自由人文主义和现实主义美学背道而驰。通过对萨米兹·帕丹的分析和对制造者的采访，我展示了萨米兹·帕丹如何试图破坏大众英雄形象，生产方式和政治指控的本体论。取而代之的是 塔米兹·帕丹（Thamizh Padam）主张在导演及其剧本/故事的指导下进行叙事表征。本文通过重新思考巴赞对电影图像本体论的讨论而得出结论，表明可以通过关注图像的本体论政治和图像本体论来有效地重构电影。